Sword Art Online: The Wolf Pack
by Shadow Typer97
Summary: When a group of friends entered SAO, they wanted a place to have fun. But when the opposite happens, things get a little out of hand. Join the Crimson Raiders as they try to survive in the death game known as Sword Art Online.
1. Chapter 1: Link Start

Chapter 1: Link Start

POV: Agent 

Real world

**"See you all on the other side!" **was the last message I received from my friends and future guild mates. After having completed my homework late last night, I was finally set to play the newest VRMMORPG, Sword Art Online.

So I lay down on my futon, slipped the NerveGear onto my head and got into a comfortable position before saying the magic phrase, "Link Start."

I felt strange sensation of being pulled upwards before seeing 5 circles representing the 5 senses being synced. Following that, I set the language to Japanese, logged in and confirmed my online ID, Agent. A welcome screen flashed before my eyes before my avatar was materialized into the game's starting city.

Town of Beginnings, Plaza 

"The heck sort of name is Agent?" a voice called out behind me. I turned around to see a player about the same height as my avatar with spiky black hair, a cool looking face and a sword on his back.

"The same kind as Wolfen, I guess," I replied. He grinned at my reply. We had earlier all agreed to refer each other only by our online names in the game, something of a full role-playing thing.

"Honestly you two, can't you choose a normal sounding name?" a female voice sighed. We turned to see the rest of our friends' avatars.

"I'd prefer a cool name than a boring one like Amy," Wolfen teased the girl. Amy retaliated by thrusting her rapier and stopping it just before it touches Wolfen's neck.

"Alright you two, cut it out," Wallace sighed. He was tallest guy in our little group, both here and in the real world. Next to him was Jess, the second oldest and, funnily enough, shortest in our group, giggling at the sight.

"Even here you guys still fight huh?" she teased.

"I guess something's never change huh?" I sighed, smiling. I then did the one thing that always solved problems like this; slink off somewhere.

"H-hey Agent, wait up!" Wolfen called out, rushing over with the others in tow. _Heh, always works_ I thought as I leisurely walked down the street.

"Why must you always skulk off?" Amy irritably asked. I simply gave a nonchalant shrug in reply before opening the menu.

"Uh… What." Classic Wolfen, never checking my hard 'research' I got from 'infiltrating' a Beta Tester forum. Ignoring Wolfen's questioning and the second blow out Amy had, I watched a group of players, most likely to be Beta Testers, and noted the path they took.

"We're following them. They might be headed for a mob field to grind some XP," I explained while gesturing to the others to act natural.

"What a great start huh guys? Amy threatening me, Agent being a real asshole and sneaky guy and here we are quietly tailing a bunch of guys who might chase us away or fight us if we're spotted," Wolfen joked. Amy shushed him while elbowing his sides.

Western Field

After 'quietly' following the group, we reached a wide, open field. There were some 'oohs' and 'aahs' and I have to admit, for a large server supporting so many players, the graphics were top notch. While the others were busy looking around I noticed a pair of players near some sort of pig mob. The mob was pretty docile and ignored them until one of them threw a rock at it. That player easily parried the charge and kicked it towards the other player.

"Woah, didn't see that coming," I muttered as said player was knocked off his feet by the boar. After watching him panic and then dispatch the boar, I noticed one of the boars slowly approaching my location. Not wanting to take any chances, I picked up a rock and readied my Plain Scimitar. Taking a deep breath, I aimed at the boar and felt the system assist kick in before I hurled the rock at the boar.

_Oh shit its mad._ I quickly dodged the boar's charge and stood in a combat stance. I felt some sort of energy slowly charge up.

_And… NOW!_ I lunged forward towards the boar and felt the attack connect. The boar slumped over before bursting into a shower of crystals. A small window popped up. _Huh, 24xp and 30 col only. This is a starter mob alright._

"Holy crap Agent, that was awesome!" Wolfen gushed. _Ew, he gushed._

"Its only a starter mob. Here, have a go," I said before hurling a rock at a nearby boar. Wolfen panicked, drew his sword, charged towards the boar and slashed down hard. Only to miss and was rewarded with a headbutt.

"Crap, this is harder then it looks…" _Use the system, Wolfen. Didn't you read the info I sent,_ I thought.

"Let me have a go," Amy said readying her rapier. She stood at a set stance and her rapier glowed. _So she did look at the info I sent, clever girl._

"Hyah!" the attack connected, pierced the boar right in the head and it exploded in a shower of crystals.

"How are you guys doing that sword glowy thing?" Wolfen asked.

"Yeah Agent, mind explaining? The summery you sent wasn't that clear," Wallace said while Jess nodded in agreement.

"Ok, ok. Amy, I'll need your help here. Weapons out first," I said pulling my scimitar out. The others did the same.

"So, with a firm hold on your weapon, you get into a stance." I shifted my feet and raised my scimitar to above my shoulder. The weapon glowed as energy started to build up.

"Let the energy build up and release!" I lunged, letting the attack slice through the air.

"Awesome," Wolfen praised, clapping.

"Now you try Wolfen."

"Uh, right." He stood at a stance and raised his sword. His sword glowed, much to his amazement.

"Hwah!" He sliced through the air in a perfect arc. _Cool, should have gone with the One-handed straight sword skill tree,_ I thought enviously as Wolfen had a swift battle with a boar. I chose the One-handed curved sword skill tree since it focuses on speed but I wouldn't mind some extra power in my strikes.

"Huh, this is weird…" I heard Wallace say. I turned and say him try various stances and swinging his mace. It took me awhile to realize that his weapon did not glow.

"Strange… I guess swinging around a hammer should feel natural unlike using a sword or a spear I guess?" I suggested. Wallace simply shrugged and tried out his weapon on one of the boar mobs. The first hit just angered the mob but the second hit surprised me. The mace glowed and the hit produced a minor knockback effect on the boar, launching it a meter or so away before it burst into the now familiar shower of crystals.

"Huh, now it works," Wallace commented in surprise. Well, he's not the only one surprised. Must have been a glitch.

"Oh my gosh. Jess, that was amazing," Amy gasped. We turned to where the girls were practicing. Jess had a surprised expression and was in a post attack pose. I wonder what has Amy all worked up.

"What's going on?" Wolfen asked.

"Show them Jess," Amy said. Jess fumbled with the spear and got into a stance. The tip of the spear glowed and the resulting attack sent her lunging 2 meters and jabbed the spear in the air in front. I got to say, it did look impressive with the spear's length and all taken into consideration.

"Yeah I guess that was amazing but honestly; are we just going to gawk at ourselves and not grind a little?" The others just looked at me funny. What did I do?

"Look Agent, how about we just enjoy ourselves for a bit here before we head back to our boring lives?" Jess was always the little voice of reason in our group. I sighed.

"Alright, let's just enjoy ourselves here. I have to log out in a couple hours anyway." I shuddered at the thought of my mother killing me if I went over the agreed timing.

"Well, you guys heard it from the horse's mouth, LET'S GET CRAZY!" Wolfen declared before charging at a mob with a loud 'battlecry'. Amy and Wallace rushed after him before he could get himself into trouble leaving Jess and I in the dust.

"… I never said that…" I weakly muttered.

"Its fine Agent, come on. We're going to get left behind," Jess said with a giggle before running to where the others are. I sighed and quickly followed suit.

The next few hours went by in a blur of activity. Ranging from grinding to exploring the town. We decided to take a break sitting on a wall and watching the virtual sun slowly setting.

Town of Beginnings, Outskirts

"Man that was fun," Wolfen sighed.

"Yeah, I even got used to using my rapier now," Amy said while mimicking some swordplay.

"Well, its fun and all but I really gotta go," I said.

"Aww, so soon Agent?" Wolfen said with a smirk. I simply rolled my eyes and opened the menu. I tapped the settings tab and wait… _Where's the logout option?_

"Something wro-" Wallace began.

"Guys… Check your menus…" I interrupted. My hands were starting to tremble and judging by the others' looks, I must have looked like I was on the verge of panicking.

"Why, what's- No… No way…" I glanced up at Wolfen who seemed shocked. His menu's logout option. _Blank._

"I-I'm not the only one right?" Amy nervously asked. I quickly looked at her menu. _No logout too. _

"It's the same for us too!" Wallace exclaimed while Jess looked like she was about to scream. Before anyone of us could do or say anything, a loud bell started echoing through the whole area and we were suddenly teleported away.

Town of Beginnings, Plaza

All around us, everyone sounded worried, confused and some every even angrily demanding to know what's going on.

"Stay close guys," I quickly said.

"Hey, Agent… What's that?" Wolfen quietly asked, pointing at the sky. There was a flashing red hexagon that read, '**WARNING SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT'** Soon, it suddenly multiplied until the whole sky shone red. A reddish liquid started leaking from the cracks between the hexagons and merged into a large hooded figure. We all looked on, horrified.

"Is that the GameMaster?" I heard someone ask before the figure gestured and began to speak.

** "Attention players. I welcome you to my world. I am Kayaba Akihiko and as of this moment, I am in control of this world. I am sure most of you have already noticed an item missing from your main menus, the Logout button. Let me assure you that this is not a defect in the game. I repeat, this is not a defect."**

_What?!_ I clenched my fists and shushed some random guy next to me so I could hear this Kayaba Akihiko's mad speech.

**"This is how Sword Art Online was designed to be. You cannot log yourselves out of SAO and no one from the outside will be able to shutdown or remove the Nervegear from your head. If anyone attempts to do so, a transmitter inside the Nervegear will discharge a microwave signal into your skull. Destroying your brain and ending your life."**

"That's crazy. The Nervegear can't do that right? Right?" I wished I could answer that Wolfen, the damned thing's is like a microwave oven if the limiter is turned off. I simply bit my lower lip and listened.

**"Despite my warnings, the family and friends of some of the players have attempted removing the Nervegear, an unfortunate decision to say the least. As a result, the game now has 213 less players than when it began. They have been deleted from both Aincrad and the real world."**

I heard a slump as Amy sunk onto her knees; her face showed fear and looked like she was about to cry. _Dammit, not you Amy._ She was usually a lot tougher in the real world but I guess this is her breaking point.

**"As you can see, international media outlets have round the clock coverage of everything, including the deaths. At this point, its safe to assume that the likelihood of a Nervegear being removed is minimal at best. I hope this brings you a little comfort as you try to clear the game. It is important to remember the following: there is no longer anyway to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted from the system. Forever. And the Nervegear will simultaneously destroy your brain. There is only one way for a player to escape now: You must clear the game. Right now, you are gathered on floor one, the lowest level of Aincrad. If you can get through the dungeon and defeat the boss, you may advance to the next floor. Defeat the boss on floor 100 and you will clear the game."**

"A hundred floors!? How the hell does he think we can clear them?!" was Wolfen's angry outburst. Wallace tried to calm him down while I continued to listen. _This is pure madness._

**"Last but not least, I placed a little present in the item storage of every player. Please, have a look."**

We quickly opened each of our item storages. _What the… A mirror? _I materialized it a looked at the reflection, my avatar with its pale grey eyes and smooth brown hair similar to my real world hair. Before I knew it, we were all engulfed in a bright white light. I instinctively cringed but the light was gone as suddenly as it appeared.

"Woah, what happened?" I heard Wolfen ask. I turned to see, his real world self?!

"Gah, Wolfen! You!" I had no idea what to say. His face went back to its boyish looking real world one. The other faced a similar change. My avatar on the other hand… Shrunk and went to my slightly chubby real world self. I quickly checked the mirror. My avatar's face went to resemble mine down to the last detail, including my rather narrow, cold eyes. _Great… back to being the second tallest again… At least I can look intimidating now but enough about that, HE must have a reason for this…_

** "Right now, you are probably wondering, 'Why? Why would Kayaba Akihiko, developer of Sword Art Online and Nervegear do this?'"**

_ Just get on with it you god-complex asshole._

**"Ultimately, my goal was a simple one. The reason I created Sword Art Online was to control the fate of a world of my design. As you can see; I have achieved my goal. This marks the end of the tutorial and the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you the best of luck." **

The large avatar slowly started to vanish and the sky returned to the previous pre-dusk setting. Silence. A scream. Panic, almost everyone around us started yelling and shoving. I started moving by instinct, I grabbed Amy, who was still slumped on the floor.

"Get up, we have to move. You guys stay close," I commanded. I managed to push us out of the panic and stopped in a nearby alleyway.

"What now Agent?" Wallace asked.

"Yeah, what now?" Wolfen added. I simply looked down, thought about what just transpired and… Laughed, really loudly.

"If we die in here, heheheh, we die in real life. Nyahahaha! Isn't there something wrong with that part guys?!" I must have looked like a maniac the way most of them looked at me. My laughter slowly died down as I my mind started planning.

"Ok, I'm calm now. I can think." _Deep breaths pull yourself together man. _"Alright, first order of business. We should get some rooms at that inn there before the mob calms down." The others nodded in agreement and we headed to the inn, hoping for a miracle.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Player levels<br>**__**Agent: lvl 1  
><strong>__**Wolfen: lvl** **1**  
><strong>Amy: lvl 1<br>Wallace: lvl 1**  
><strong>Jess: lvl 1<strong>_

Next chapter: Friend or Foe?


	2. Chapter 2: Friend or Foe? Part 1

Chapter 2: Friend or Foe? Part 1

POV: Wolfen

Eastern Fields

"Eat this!" I cried as I craved my blade into a wolf mob. It whimpered before it burst into a shower of crystals. _I hope this is enough… _A window flashed up and showed that I had leveled up.

"Alright! Look out Aincrad, a level 5 badass walks these fields!"

"Woopie…" a dull voice cheered. That voice belonged to Amy, the resident killjoy of our little group. She sheathed her rapier before turning towards me, hands on her hips.

"Why are so happy?! Don't you realize that we're trapped here?!" she berated. I could only grin sheepishly and sheathed my sword, not before twirling it around a few times.

"And stop doing that! The last time you did that, you almost decapitated yourself!"

"Alright, alright. I'll only do the twirl in an Area next time, ok?" Amy looked like she could explode but before she could say anything, someone cut her off.

"What are you two doing? Agent and Jess are waiting back in the inn," a voice called out. That was Wallace, the nice guy of the group.

"Sorry, thought I could get some last minute training in. Is Agent mad?" Agent was the planner of our party and after his spectacular breakdown a week ago, we kinda treated him like an emotional landmine.

"Nah, he just seems tired. He did come back late last night from some grinding," Wallace explained. That did make sense but Agent never got tired. Period.

Town of Beginnings, Inn

We headed back to the inn in record time, even with the crowd, since the layout of the town was already familiar to us. We went into the inn and sat down at the table where Agent and Jess were discussing something.

"Yo, what'cha guys talking about?" I asked. Jess looked up and greeted us with a smile while Agent looked like he's glum. _Sheesh, talk about a personality change._

"Nothing much. Just discussing the plan we discussed yesterday," Jess answered. _Wait, what plan?_

"Judging by that blank look, I would guess that you forgot. Right?" Agent said quietly. I could only nod sheepishly in reply. He just sighed before talking out the field guide we got yesterday. Apparently it was written by a Beta Tester and was given away for free in NPC shops.

"Look, we have to shift town. According to the guide, the fields will run out of mobs to hunt. No mobs means no XP and Col. No XP and Col means we cannot advance onwards. So, I planned to move on to another village before the mob field here runs dry. However, the path is rather dangerous and since some players have to same idea, we are going to be traveling with"

"Us!" a cheerful voice called out. I turned to see a cheerful looking girl about Agent's age, 2 guys who may or may not be brothers and cute looking lass who looks like she's a college student.

"Okay… So who the heck are you guys?" I asked.

"Well, I'm Chiro," the girl answered.

"I'm Kin and this is my younger brother Gin," the older one answered while his brother, who blushed a little for some weird reason, just waved before returning to mauling his toast. _And Amy says my eating habits are bad…_

"M-my name is K-Krystal… N-nice to meet you…" the cute lass answered. _Oh wow. I think I'm falling for her… Dammit Wolfen, get yourself together. Stay cool. Just say your name and you-_

"-and that dorky guy there is Wolfen. That should cover everyone." _Dammit Amy! I was even preparing a cool move!_

"Y-yeah! That's me! The one and only. Wolfen…" _I must really look like an idiot now_, I thought as I facepalmed at my weak intro.

"Well, now that everyone knows each other, we should go get some supplies at the market," With that, we all got up and left the inn.

Town of Beginnings, Market

The streets were rather packed with players. Some were running around while others were looking at the NPC shops for weapons and supplies. One particular weapon caught my eye, a sword which was slightly shorter than the standard starter sword but was slightly wider with a tapered point near the top. The tag under it showed the cost to be 1750 Col.

"What are you looking at Wolfen?" Chiro asked. Her question snapped me out of my stupor.

"Oh n-nothing. Just admiring that sword…" I liked, no, loved it. It looked perfect for me, like as if it was made for me.

"Wanna buy it Wolfen?" I jumped at the voice and turned to see a figure in a short green cloak. Before I could ask, he lowered the hood to reveal a smiling Agent.

"Talk about creepy, what's with the cloak?" I asked. He simply smiled.

"Nothing, just wanted to try it. But I'll ask again, do you want to buy that sword Wolfen?" I hesitated for a moment. Agent was being like his real world nice guy self. A literally non-existent sight the past few days but a welcome one. I nervously laughed.

"Yeah… I kinda wanna get it. It looks great and-" I began but he silenced me by rising his hand. He opened the menu and materialized his coin pouch. He took out about 950 Col worth of coins and gave it to me.

"I'll sponsor some Col. Go get it, buddy," he said with a quick wink before turning and walking to where the others were stocking up on potions and other miscellaneous items. I entered the shop and was greeted by the NPC blacksmith.

"Welcome stranger! See anything you like?" I thought about it for a bit. With the money I have, I could get quite a few recovery items and a decent set of armor but after thinking for about 5 seconds I went with my original plan.

"Hey mister, I'd like to buy that sword you have on the display," I said, pointing towards the window. The NPC's face seemed to light up with joy. _It's like as if he's an actual person,_ I mused.

"Ah yes, you have a fine eye for weaponry, my boy. This here is an Arming Sword. My best piece yet. Favored by swordsmen and adventurers in these parts. Here, try it out and see." He held out the blade and I took it by the handle. It was slightly heavier but still manageable nevertheless. I tried it out with a couple of Slants and Verticals. _Man, I am loving this sword already._

"I'll take it," I said handing it back to the NPC. His smile grew wider and his eyes sparkled with glee. _This is getting uncomfortable…_

"That will be 1750 Col my boy." I handed him the coins and he gave me the sword in a nice brown sheath.

"Pleasure doing business with you! Come back again soon!" He bode as I left the shop with my new sword strapped across my back. A quick look around showed Jess and Krystal having a conversation nearby, Gin and Kin looking at some wares, Wallace and Amy standing around and Agent quietly listening to Chiro blabber away nearby. _Hehe, that looks rather ironic. Agent was the silly, talkative type in real life._

"Hey guys, notice anything new?" I asked while nudging my head towards my new sword.

"No… Not really…" Kin replied in a bored sounding tone. His brother on the other hand, rushed over.

"You got a new sword! Can I have a look?! Please?!" Gin excitedly pleaded. The others didn't seemed that surprised or impressed but Agent had a knowing smile on his face.

"Sure, stand back," I said as I unsheathed my sword and held it up. Gin was close to drooling while Kin simply whistled in amazement.

"Cost me around 1750 Col for this bad-boy," I proudly proclaimed before twirling it a few times and sheathing the sword.

"Well, if you guys are done admiring swords, no innuendo intended, we should get going," Agent called out. We all gathered together and headed off.

Town of Beginnings, Outskirts

"Alright, so before we head out, I'd like for all of us to do a final inventory and Skill settings check," Agent suggested as he opened his menu. We all followed suit and I checked to see my stock of potions before checking my Skill slots. I set my weapon skill and the Sprint skill in the other before closing the menu.

"Everyone ready?" Agent's question was answered by mix of nods and cheers, mine being the loudest of course. "Then off we go then."

West Path

For the first ten minutes, nothing much happened. It was rather boring but the weather setting was nice and there was a light breeze. Then a pack of wolf mobs materialized ahead of our group.

"Finally, some action," I said as I drew my sword out. The others also readied their weapons, except for Agent who just stood back. _Weird, what are you up to?_

"TO THE ABYSS WITH YOU!" Gin shouted as he charged with his axe ready. His brother quickly followed to assist. _Heh, amateur._

"You call that a war cry?! You got a long way to go kid!" I shouted as I dispatched a wolf with a charged Horizontal. Pretty much everyone was fighting but a quick glance showed Agent still just watching, his scimitar in hand but lowered by his side. _The heck is he doing? _I thought as I kicked away a mob and dispatched it. Suddenly I heard a gasp and turned towards the source. Apparently, Jess' attack missed and her spear got lodged into a tree. Kin also saw what happened and we both rushed over to help. However, Agent suddenly appeared and stopped us.

"Watch, you might learn something Kin," he said before we could protest. We watched to see the wolf charge at Jess. She suddenly lunged towards the wolf. The wolf staggered as a red cut appeared before it fell over and burst into a shower of crystals. Jess turned and we finally saw the dagger in her hand.

"She has two weapon skills?" Kin said in awe. To be honest, I knew she had the dagger skill as she bought the dagger yesterday and trained with it but I didn't know you could equip more than one weapon skill. Jess calmly sheathed the dagger and yanked out her spear.

"All clear here," she called out.

"Same thing here," Chiro replied.

"I guess we got them all," Wallace said. We all sheathed or kept our weapons. I turned towards Agent.

"Why didn't you fight?" I asked as we continued onwards towards the village.

"Yeah, why didn't you help back there?" Chiro added on. Agent simply smirked and opened his menu. Chiro and I took a look. _Wait, what?!_

"Oh wow, you're level 6…" Chiro said in awe.

"The fruits of my late night training. Besides, if I did help, I'll just be an XP sponge," Agent said, as he materialized a potion. "Here, Wolfen. You lost some HP."

"Thanks…" I said as I accepted the potion. I was feeling a little envious. I worked hard to get to level 5 but then again, Agent did spend his entire second night out training till dawn. We continued walking until we reached a forest.

"Hmm…" Agent hummed as he stopped.

"What's the matter?" Wallace asked. Agent took out the field guide. He flipped through the pages, read a certain page and frowned. _That's not good._

"We should take a detour. The forest has some rather dangerous mobs lurking in it and the guide strongly suggests that we all be at least level 5 before entering it," Agent explained, stowing the guide away.

"Well, I'm level 5," Kin spoke up and frowned before continuing. "But Chiro and the Gin are level 4 while Krystal is still level 3…"

"Last I checked, we are mostly level 5 except Jess who is still level 4 and Agent's level 6," I said, mentally weighing our chances.

"Either way, we should take a break," Agent said before sitting on a nearby rock. The other group seemed doubtful while ours just chose a comfortable spot to sit.

"Well, no choice seeing as how we should stick together. Right guys?" Chiro said as she sat down. Krystal sat next to her looking rather relieved. _Heh. Cute._

"Well, I got some food for everyone," Jess said, materializing a bunch of bags from her inventory. "Help yourselves."

"Thanks," I said as Wallace passed me one. I opened it. _Urgh… Black bread again… Oh wait! _I quickly checked my inventory and procured my lifesaver, Berry Jam I bought from the inn's shop. I tapped the top of the jar and traced it over the bread and a sweet, slightly tart jam spread on the bread. I saw Krystal looking at me curiously.

"Here," I said passing the jar over to her. "Try some, makes this damned thing slightly more flavorful.

"Oh. T-thank you," she said with a smile. _Yup, I'm in love. _

"You like her so much then say something," Amy suddenly whispered, nudging my ribs. I gagged on my sip of water and felt my face heating up.

"Shut up Amy. I don't like 'like' her," I hissed. I immediately thought of a comeback. "Well if you like Agent so much then you say something." _Hah, take that. _She didn't look impressed.

"Wow. Nice comeback Puppy," she teased. I targeted her tagging along with Agent for the past few grinding sessions. I kinda saw it as a sense of her liking him but I guess it wasn't that. _Damn... _

"Ah shut up, Rattata." Her face suddenly lit up, I swear I could see steam shooting out of her ears as she was visibly resisting the urge to strike down right there and then. Her hand was twitching dangerously close to her rapier. _Oh shit... _

"Amy. Calm down, I would want you of all people to turn into an Orange player," Agent quickly commanded. Amy slowly moved her hand away from her weapon and turned away from me with a 'Hmmph!'. _Nice save Agent. _I shot him a thumbs up but what he said next... scared me.

"When we get into an Area, I'll let you hit him as much as you want while I'll personally hold him down." _TRAITOR! _Amy looked towards me with an evil gleam in her eyes and what may be the most evil smile I've seen on her face. The others looked on with a mix of pity and amusement. Chiro and Gin were even snickering, those devils. If someone said that I was more afraid of reaching the village then facing the forest mobs.

They were right.

* * *

><p><strong>Player levels<br>****Agent: lvl 6  
><strong>**Wolfen: lvl 5  
>Amy: lvl 5<br>Wallace: lvl 5  
>Jess: lvl 4<strong>

Ally levels  
>Chiro: lvl 4<br>Kin: lvl 5  
>Gin: lvl 4<br>Krystal: lvl 3


	3. Chapter 3: Friend or Foe? Part 2

Chapter 3: Friend or Foe? Part 2

POV: Agent

Eastern Woods

"H-hey Agent, you're just joking right? Right?" Wolfen nervously asked. I simply smiled and took a deep interest in my half eaten bread. Chiro scooted over next to me.

"So what's the plan? Are we going to go through the forest?" she asked. I bit into my piece of bread and weighed our chances. _According to the guide, the forest has these really weird plant mobs, Nepents or something like that. Not to mention that they tend to swarm when one attacks the fruit... _

"Hey Agent, we're ready to make a move. So what's the plan? We going through or not?" Kin asked impatiently. _Darn brat, _I thought. Not like his younger brother but I guess he has first child syndrome. I quickly finished my bread and stood up.

"Well, I'd say we take a detour but let's make this interesting. We are going through the forest!" I said, pointing at the path. Wolfen made a whooping noise while Amy sighed, facepalming.

"That is unless Krystal has no problems with it," I added. Krystal seemed taken aback.

"W-what? W-why ask me?"

"Well, to be frank, you have the lowest level and I have seen you fight. You seem to hesitate and you almost froze up earlier. My guess is, you hate violence. Which, I must add, is a respectable thing," I explained while putting on my kindest smile. She looked at her feet and twiddled her fingers. _Huh, so shy people really do that._

"Hey, lay off!" Gin suddenly shouted, stepping in front of Krystal. "Yeah, we know she's like that but you don't have to push it!"

"He's right Agent. As much as I agree with you, this is pushing it too far," Amy added on. I frowned.

"I know I'm being pushy but I remember asking her, not you guys," I rebutted.

"G-Gin... Its ok. Really," Krystal said, trying to calm him down. She then looked at me.

"Agent, I-I'm fine with it. I-I'll use this chance to get stronger," she said with determination.

"Alright then. Well, you guys heard her. We're taking the forest path but first, some arrangements to make." Wolfen groaned upon hearing this. _To think that I might make his dreams come true. _

"Wolfen and Kin, I need you two to stay close to Krystal. Act as her body guards and weaken the mobs for her. Make sure she gets the final hit for as many mobs as you can. Chiro, Amy, Jess and Gin will take rear. Wallace and I will take point. Any objections?" I asked ignoring Wolfen's happy face. Gin raised his hand. "Yes Gin, what's your objection?"

"Well... I would feel better if there wasn't so many pretty girls with me..." he explained in embarrassment. _What. _Amy and Wolfen shot him a dumbfounded look while Kin groaned.

"He has a problem being alone with girls. Don't ask," he explained. _I really don't want to know either way... _

"O-okay... Wallace switch places with... umm... uh..." I had no idea who to pick. I don't mind Jess and Amy would make good backup like always but both their defenses are rather low. _Wait a minute... _

"Chiro, swap with Wallace. I trust that you're ok with that shield," I said. Chiro looked really happy with this new arrangement. She skipped over, grinning like a little kid who just got ice cream. _Strange girl._

"Alright then, skill and inventory check. If you are running low on potions, please say something. Those with extra kindly share," I said, opening my window. I looked at my Parry skill and swapped it out for the Search skill. _Might as well. _

"You guys ready?" Everyone nodded. _No cheers this time? _"Alright then. Onwards we go."

The moment we entered the forest, I let my Search skill go off. There wasn't much activity other than a bunch of Harmless Worms moving around the bushes on our left. We continued moving and it slowly got darker from the shade of the trees.

"Man, this place is creepy," I heard Wolfen comment. Creepy was an understatement for players of our level. Sure I may be level 6 but I need to look out for the others. Suddenly someone in our group screamed. I quickly turned around, my scimitar at the ready.

"I-I-I thought I s-saw something over there..." Krystal whimpered, pointing towards a bunch of shrubs to our left. I slowly edged towards it. My Search skill was picking up something in there but I couldn't identify it. I poked my scimitar into the shrubs and it suddenly burst out. A tall pitcher plant like... thing with a wide mouth and a sprout poking out of the top of it. I instinctively stepped back.

"Defensive positions! Remember, don't attack the fruit if it has one!" I shouted as everyone drew their weapons. My shout must have attracted more as a few more burst from the bushes. I silently cursed under my breath.

"I got this one!" Kin roared as he slashed his spear at the closest Nepent. The strong slash almost killed the mob.

"Krystal, Switch!" Kin cried as Krystal yelped in shock. She quickly fumbled with her rapier and blindly thrust the air in front of her. Her attack connected and just barely killed the mob. _Alright Agent... Go time. _I slashed at the second Nepent.

"Chiro, Switch!" I cried, hopping back. Chiro yelled and did a spectacular Horizontal which bisected the mob and burst into the now familiar shower of crystals. _Last one._

I turned towards the last Nepent. That's when I noticed the thing I worried about. _Oh crap, it has a fruit! _I saw that Gin's axe was bearing down on the fruit.

"Gin! Stop!" I cried out but his axe burst the fruit and all hell broke loose. The bushes flurried with activity a whole hoard of Nepents charged towards us. _Damn this!_

"Emergency positions! Low level players stay in the middle! We gotta cut our way through!" I shouted over the noise as I slashed wildly at a Nepent. Nearby, Gin was doing his best but one of the Nepents tripped him with its vine and was set to maul him. I quickly charged up my Reaver skill and aimed for the vines. _Oh no you don't! _My skill struck home and severed the left vine. His brother then dispatched the Nepent with a few quick thrusts of his spear.

"Get up!" he said, pulling his brother up. Gin was still in shock but gathered his wits and was soon back in the fight. My higher level meant that I had to tank blows and man, being hit is unpleasant to say the least.

"Keep fighting! We're almost outta here!" I shouted, trying to raise everyone's spirits but even I seemed doubtful at our chances. Sure, we were advancing up the path but our slow movements as a group meant they surrounded us easily.

"There's no end to these things!" Wolfen shouted as he cut another Nepent down. _Come on, think Agent think! There has to be a way... Wait... Screw it._

"Guys... run. I-I'll hold them off..." I said. Krystal and Jess looked shocked. I pressed on, "I SAID, RUN! I'll hold these bastards off!"

"Come on, you heard him. There's no other choice," I barely heard Kin say to Krystal and Chiho as he grabbed their arms and dragged them off. Gin guiltily looked at me before following his brother. Amy's choice was made by Wallace.

"He probably has a plan. Good luck Agent," he wished as he dragged a tongue-tied Amy off. _I wish Wallace... I really do..._

"You better know what you're doing man," Wolfen solemnly said as he took Jess with him and ran. _If only you knew man..._ I faced the advancing wave of Nepents. Their mouths full of teeth drooling with fluid as they moved. _The good die young I guess._

"Hey assholes! Follow me!" I shouted at them, killing one before running the opposite direction of the others. _Good it worked... Now what? _I soon found myself surrounded. I barely managed to escape but with critical HP.

"To think my life here will be ended by a damned plant..." I muttered as fatigue started to creep up on me. I was starting to slow down and they were slowly catching up. One of them got close enough to trip me up with a vine. I fell down face first and by the time I turned, a Nepnent had caught up and was about kill me. _Well, this is the end then... Heh, to think I was the most prepared for this, _I thought as I braced for the final blow.

"NO WAY YOU'RE GIVING UP NOW MAN!" a voice shouted. I opened my eyes in time to see the Nepent explode into a shower of crystals and Wolfen extending a hand to me.

"You son of a bitch! I told you to run!" I berated but accepted his hand. He pulled me up and half-dragged me up the path.

"Can't let you steal all the glory now can I? Besides, Amy would kill me if I let you die," he said with a smirk while shoving a potion bottle into my mouth. I felt a slight burst of energy as my HP slowly recovered.

"True, true," I replied as we booked it.

Hardrun Settlement, Outskirts

Soon we emerged from the forest and I collapsed onto the ground, panting. I looked up in time to be knocked over by Amy and Jess hugging me.

"Ow hey, leggo!" I managed to say but they wouldn't comply. Much to Wallace's and Wolfen's amusement and laughter.

"So, you made it," a familiar voice said. Amy and Jess had finally let go of me as I looked up to see Kin standing in front of me.

"Nice to see you too..." I quietly replied. He was about to say something when a third person glomped me.

"Ow! Chiro. Off. Please," I pleaded.

"That's how she thanks people. I was a victim of that once so suck it up Agent," Kin explained with an amused smile on his face. Chiro finally let go but not before punching my shoulder.

"What was that for?" I asked.

"For being a brave idiot," Chiro said, sniffling before looking away and wiping her face with her sleeve. _Ok... Not the first time I made a girl cry... _I was in the process of standing when someone bowed to me.

"F-forgive me! I got careless a-and I almost got you killed b-but you saved us anyway and-"

"Woah, Gin... Relax..." I said putting my hand on his shoulder. He looked up, his face was red with shame.

"Listen, it's an honest mistake. Alright?" I said trying to assure him. He silently nodded before walking off. The next part, I was not ready. Krystal walked up and gave me a bone-crushing hug.

"Urgh... Krystal, I get it. But you are going to kill me here," I pleaded. _Out of the pan, into the fire huh? _I thought as felt Wolfen's jealous glare behind me.

"H-how can we ever thank you?" Krystal asked, finally letting me go. I thought about it for a moment.

"Easy. Live," I answered walking back to where my friends are. _To think I didn't trust these guys. _

"Hey Agent, wait!" Kin called out. I turned to find him offering me a handshake.

"To future partnerships?" He asked sheepishly. I smiled and accepted the handshake.

"To future partnerships."

* * *

><p><strong>Player lvl:<br>Agent: lvl 6  
>Wolfen: lvl 5<br>Amy: lvl 5  
>Jess: lvl 5<br>Wallace: lvl 5**


End file.
